After 70 games, what's RR's grade so far?

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

They had a clip of an interview where RR was wondering why the offense has been so inconsistent.

 

If only RR would read the forum. Having a screwy batting order and trotting out guys like Kotsay & Yuni will do that to a lineup. Gomez I get...the guy is an amazing CF, but the other guys are well below average fielders. It makes no sense. Until I get confirmed evidence that DM is requiring he bat Yuni 6/7 and play him every day he gets a D...and only because he seems like a nice guy who the players like.

[danzig6767]

They had a clip of an interview where RR was wondering why the offense has been so inconsistent.

 

If only RR would read the forum. Having a screwy batting order and trotting out guys like Kotsay & Yuni will do that to a lineup. Gomez I get...the guy is an amazing CF, but the other guys are well below average fielders. It makes no sense. Until I get confirmed evidence that DM is requiring he bat Yuni 6/7 and play him every day he gets a D...and only because he seems like a nice guy who the players like.

Nobody on the bench can hit at all besides maybe Kottaras and that goes way more on Doug Melvin than the manager. Brandon Boggs has a .960 OPS in AAA, but he continues to rot away there while Kotsay will barely be carrying an OPS above .600 after his 0-4 tonight.

 

Between the horrible hitting bench Melvin put together and Betancourt, it's not like Roenicke has many options besides playing Counsell more, and it's not like he can hit much.

[TheCrew07]

Not to mention 3 ROOGY types in the pen. This might be the hardest bullpen in baseball to manage. The only thing left is to call up a different LOOGY while Braddock is in the penalty box. Then we can switch pitchers every batter!

 

Part of that problem of course is the organization and RR himself don't see it that way, but Melvin has never been able to evaluate pitching so it's not exactly a surprise.

[danzig6767]

Not to mention 3 ROOGY types in the pen. This might be the hardest bullpen in baseball to manage. The only thing left is to call up a different LOOGY while Braddock is in the penalty box. Then we can switch pitchers every batter!

 

Part of that problem of course is the organization and RR himself don't see it that way, but Melvin has never been able to evaluate pitching so it's not exactly a surprise.

While i blame Melvin entirely for the horrible hitting bench and Betancourt, unless Roenicke has unlikely resisted overtures by Doug to replace Kotsay, i can't blame Melvin as much for the state of the bullpen. I think injuries have really hurt the pen.

 

Yea Saito is old and thus potential injuries popping up with him were a legit concern, he did average though around 55-60 appearances since coming over from Japan, including 56 in each of the last two seasons. So even though i expected that he'd have to be used with some caution and might miss time here and there, i didn't expect him to not pitch for us at all. That's hurt a lot because he's been really good his whole career. Parra may have been helpful. I really liked what i saw from Kintzler and thought he could have ended up developing into a key cog in the pen who could pitch in an 8th inning set-up guy role along with also being a guy who could give multiple innings say the 6th/7th innings of a still close game where the starter leaves early. Braddock i hoped for big things this year and after he came back from the DL stint, he was back to throwing 93-95, and looking like the guy we saw last year. Now he's back off the team again.

 

Put all or at least 2-3 of them in our pen instead of say Estrada, DiFelice, Dillard, and/or Mitre, i'd feel pretty damn good about the bullpen.

[adambr2]

I'd give him a D. To me he seems to not know his team and that's a big one against him to me.

 

Example, treating Loe as a setup man, treating Braddock like a LOOGY. Not knowing the difference between "veteran leader" and "washed up has-been" with his treatment of Kotsay and persistence with Nieves.

 

The bench is another great example. Roenicke did not want Gamel brought up for interleague DH help because he said he felt he had "coverage from within." . That's a laughable statement. If you're saying you have coverage from within, you're basically saying you have a great bench. Which any nonbiased observer will clearly note that we do not have.

[Ennder]

Bullpen is one area I have no idea about. I honestly don't know if anyone does. It usually takes until August or so to find out if the pen was worn out or not. I don't care if one reliever gets overused early or not as much as I am about having enough good ones when August comes around. Grade incomplete..

I don't understand how calling Herrera more than a LOOGY, using Loe as the 8th inning guy when there are clearly better options, and categorizing Braddock as a LOOGY don't stand out as terrible decisions when it comes to bullpen use. I don't think we need to wait until August to say Roenicke has not used his bullpen well so far. Macha did a pretty good job last year with the bullpen with a lot of the same guys (a large reason I think because he didn't hesitate to bring Axford in in the 8th).

Because there aren't clearly better options than Loe in the 8th and Herrera was more pitching to eat up innings than anything. Braddock hasn't really proven anything yet so cant' complain about his usage. Bullpen usage is one area I do think managers mismanage but it is also ones that fans seem to complain about even when it isn't wrong at all. Fans tend to want to judge the RP by 20 IP of ERA which is useless.

[Never Outhustled]

RR think Betancourt was good last year, and he thinks Kotsay is good. These things lead me to believe RR is bad. Braun, Fielder, Weeks, and Marcum have covered up the fact that this guy is a clown.

 

Also, this silly idea that any pitcher needs to be "the 8th inning guy" is beyond illogical. How about just rotate all the relievers that are pitching well so they get consistent work?

[adambr2]

I always felt for the most part that managers didn't have much of an overall affect, and so far I think his management decisions probably have us 2-3 games behind where we would be with an "average" manager.

 

So needless to say, I think he might be the worst manager in baseball.

[rluzinski]

RR think Betancourt was good last year, and he thinks Kotsay is good. These things lead me to believe RR is bad.

Don't forget that he let a handful of spring training AB's to convince him that Gomez was a good hitter and stubbornly let him bat 2nd while he hit like we all knew he was going to.

[Raw Biz]

Bullpen is one area I have no idea about. I honestly don't know if anyone does. It usually takes until August or so to find out if the pen was worn out or not. I don't care if one reliever gets overused early or not as much as I am about having enough good ones when August comes around. Grade incomplete..

I don't understand how calling Herrera more than a LOOGY, using Loe as the 8th inning guy when there are clearly better options, and categorizing Braddock as a LOOGY don't stand out as terrible decisions when it comes to bullpen use. I don't think we need to wait until August to say Roenicke has not used his bullpen well so far. Macha did a pretty good job last year with the bullpen with a lot of the same guys (a large reason I think because he didn't hesitate to bring Axford in in the 8th).

Because there aren't clearly better options than Loe in the 8th and Herrera was more pitching to eat up innings than anything. Braddock hasn't really proven anything yet so cant' complain about his usage. Bullpen usage is one area I do think managers mismanage but it is also ones that fans seem to complain about even when it isn't wrong at all. Fans tend to want to judge the RP by 20 IP of ERA which is useless.

I thought Braddock (when he was here) and Hawkins are both clearly better than Loe. Both have shown they can get out righties and lefties. Braddock seemed to prove himself fine last year and so far this year. Also, I didn't mention USING Herrera as more than a LOOGY. I understand he was to eat innings in the Boston game. Roenicke specifically mentioned in a pre-game interview that he thought Herrera was more than a LOOGY because he has that junkball pitch (or something to that effect). Had Herrera not sucked so bad and been demoted right away, I wouldn't have doubted that we would see Herrera in a close game against a righty. In Roenicke's mind, Herrera was not a LOOGY because he came out and said so.

[Thurston Fluff]

Roenicke specifically mentioned in a pre-game interview that he thought Herrera was more than a LOOGY because he has that junkball pitch (or something to that effect).

 

Translated there are times I may have to use him against right handers if the situation dictates. I am going to say nice things about him to maintain his confidence in the event that may occur.

The situation came up and he used him. Do you really think it would have helped the situation to have RRR say he can't get righties out then have to play him against righties?

 

I thought Braddock (when he was here) and Hawkins are both clearly better than Loe. Both have shown they can get out righties and lefties.

 

There was mention about Braddock being late and being tired a lot then he got sent down. That had to play into it somewhere. Hawkins in 39 and coming off shoulder surgery. Bringing him along slowly seems to me to be a smart idea.

[Raw Biz]

Roenicke specifically mentioned in a pre-game interview that he thought Herrera was more than a LOOGY because he has that junkball pitch (or something to that effect).

 

Translated there are times I may have to use him against right handers if the situation dictates. I am going to say nice things about him to maintain his confidence in the event that may occur.

The situation came up and he used him. Do you really think it would have helped the situation to have RRR say he can't get righties out then have to play him against righties?

 

I thought Braddock (when he was here) and Hawkins are both clearly better than Loe. Both have shown they can get out righties and lefties.

 

There was mention about Braddock being late and being tired a lot then he got sent down. That had to play into it somewhere. Hawkins in 39 and coming off shoulder surgery. Bringing him along slowly seems to me to be a smart idea.

He doesn't have to say he can't get righties out. However, he can say that he's "our lefty-specialist" or something to that nature. Managers say that kind of stuff all the time. But Roenicke has demonstrated already that he apparently doesn't look at splits and will use any pitcher against any hitter (except Braddock for some reason).

As for Braddock, he was pitching great after his first DL stint. He was still on the team and he was still being used. If they are going to use him, shouldn't they use him when he would help the team the most? If they were punishing him for his lateness by still keeping him on the team but only using him in non-key situations, that is just stupid and he should've been sent down right away. The same goes for Hawkins. He is still being used to pitch, just doing so in lower-leverage situations. If they are going to use him, use him when it matters. I don't think him pitching with the game on the line or in a blowout will really matter when it comes to stress on the arm; he's pitching either way. I'm not saying he needs to be used every 8th inning (I've said many times I don't want any designated pitcher in the 8th) but a combo of Hawkins/Braddock/Loe (if there's righties up and he hasn't pitched 3 days in a row) should've been implemented.